1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to those machines especially adapted for semi-automated cracking and shelling of nuts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a wide variety of tools and machines of the past that were devised for removing shells from nuts, such as pecans. Included among the past efforts are machines that use an impacting plunger that delivers a sharp but controlled blow against one end of a shell to shatter it and expose the nut.
Among the semi-automated machines are those which use a spring or solenoid operated plunger to impact the shells of nuts. This type nut cracker includes those having a handle that, when actuated, moves a plunger to compress a spring. A pawl eventually separates the handle from the plunger such that the energy of the compressed spring suddenly releases to drive the plunger into impact with a shell.
There is a persistent challenge for the designers of impacting nut cracking machines. The large variation in the size of nuts and their encapsulating shells--even those of the same specie--demands special precautions. How can the plunger stroke be adjusted to accommodate shells of varying length? Or, how can the force of the impact be varied to provide just the right amount of energy to fracture and remove the shell without substantial damage to the nut, regardless of widely varying thicknessesand nuts? This is the challenge and background that gives rise to the present invention.